Series/Extremely long titles? - Writers Forum

Destany · 06-25-2005, 09:49 AM

This is the name of my book:
The Haunting Jacob Miller
Part One: Raiz

Obviously, They Haunting Jacob Miller is the series name,
Raiz is the title of the first book. I know it's best to keep titles short, if possible, but this one couldn't be.
My question is, in formating, when I put my name and title of the book in the header of each page, do I include the entire Title?
Don't most people just hate long titles?

journyman161 · 06-25-2005, 09:59 AM

I think the only ones you need to worry about is, Do Publishers hate long titles & I'd guess at Yes. They have limited cover space to attract buyers & if you cover it in text they may not be happy.

In your title above, is it meant to be The Haunting of Jacob Miller?

Either way, why not set the series like...
The Haunting Jacob Miller: Raiz
The Haunting Jacob Miller: Dolem... etc.

Saponification · 06-25-2005, 07:09 PM

Publishers do hate long titles, it's something that's well-known. Something that's simple and one or two words long is nice and memorable. That's why so many book titles are along the lines of "The <insert name here.>"

mammamaia · 06-26-2005, 08:06 AM

keep in mind that your choice of title won't necessarily survive to the 'it's a book!' stage... but, generally, long titles won't impress a potential publisher...

that said, your title makes no sense w/o that seemingly missing 'of' added... and even with it, it's not all that long... the real trouble with yours is that it doesn't stand on its own... no one is going to buy a 'part one' of anything... you have to submit your novel as if nothing comes after it... if it sells well enough to warrant a sequel or others in a series, well and good... but it will only sell [or not] on its own merit...

you can mention to those you query that there will be others in a series, but if you do, it should be a very brief mention, nothing more... if your first book won't sell itself to the publisher as a 'single' it won't matter if you have 1 or 6 sequels...

Saponification · 06-26-2005, 08:22 AM

Publishers are less likely to take a risk with you if they're commited to publishing four or five books afterwards. There have been many notable exceptions to this, but most publishers prefer to start off with standalone titles (even Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone can kind of stand alone).

Hand · 06-26-2005, 08:57 AM

Plus short titles are catchier, because there's less for readers to forget (hence more for them to remember). A short punchy title sells better.

Destany · 06-26-2005, 04:57 PM

Thanks for the advice, I like the idea about leaving out the "Part One". If a publisher had a problem with the title, I'd be willing to look at other options.

Maia, if I told you what the book was about you'd understand the title, I guess that's what book jackets are for

Hopefully I can have the series finished or in the least, a good portion of the other books written by the time I send this off to publisher, then they would be more receptive to it.

mammamaia · 06-27-2005, 08:37 AM

"Hopefully I can have the series finished or in the least, a good portion of the other books written by the time I send this off to publisher, then they would be more receptive to it."

sorry, but that's a faulty assumption, destany...
they're only going to judge the first book on its own merits as a stand alone novel...

whether or not you have a series completed [or in the works] will NOT affect how 'receptive' they'll be to the one you query them about/submit...